"Under the collective bargaining agreement signed last season, teams are allowed two compliance buyouts within designated time periods last summer and this summer. That’s two buyouts total, not two per summer, and the buyouts can be used at a team’s discretion. That means some teams can (and did) use both last summer, some used one and some saved both for this summer.

When using a compliance buyout, a team “must pay two-thirds of the remaining contract across twice the remaining term of the deal. The bought-out players become free agents July 5 (2013, and July 1, 2014) and can sign with any team, other than the one that bought out the player.”

A refresher of last year’s compliance buyouts can be found here. But here’s a short list of who does and does not have flexibility.

ONE BUYOUT LEFT: Detroit, Edmonton, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Washington

NO BUYOUTS LEFT:Chicago, Montreal, Philadelphia, Toronto

Factoring that list in, I’ve ranked my top five compliance buyout candidates below. My key criteria: (a) No one would want any part of this player’s contract in a trade; (b) this player wasn’t signed last summer, as sheer pride would likely stop most GMs from admitting their mistakes after just one year; (c) this player is not suffering from a long-term injury.

He scored in his first game as a Sabre Oct. 7, 2011 and it was all downhill from there. In the 132 contests since, Leino has nine goals. He has zero in 54 games this season. Calling him a buyout candidate is a gross understatement.

Seeing what Jaromir Jagr has done at 42 and even what Jarome Iginla has done at 36, Richards sure seems like an old 33, doesn’t he? Too much mileage, too many years left, too many dollars for someone who can no longer function as a team’s No. 1 pivot.

Name a goalie, any goalie, and he has a better save percentage than Pavelec this season. I’m barely even joking. Of the 49 qualified leaders in save percentage, 43 rank ahead of Pavelec, a “starter.” Time for a change in Winnipeg’s net. Al Montoya deserves a longer look, maybe as part of a tandem with someone like Brian Elliott or James Reimer.

Marty, not Martin anymore, according to his official profile page. Havlat makes the money of a key offensive contributor and he simply isn’t one anymore. He only has a year left on his deal, but the contending Sharks could do plenty with that $5 million as they seek another piece of the Stanley Cup puzzle. Assuming they don’t win it this year, of course.

Am I contradicting my own criteria? It’s controversial pick, as some teams may be willing to explore a trade for him, but the cap hit and term, not to mention Myers’ no-trade clause that kicks in for 2016-17, would make it tough for Buffalo to find a dance partner. The Sabres don’t need Myers for their future, as they have Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov and Jake McCabe to build around, not to mention Christian Ehrhoff signed at a reasonable price until the end of time. Myers is the anti-Dennis Green player, in that he just isn’t who we thought he was after that Calder Trophy campaign in 2009-10.

Agree or disagree with these picks? Have some candidates of your own"

Since I really just want the palyoffs to start yesterday, thought I'd put up another distraction subject that won't take my take my mind off the post-season.

Havlat and Leino are gimmes in my view. Or does Murray keep Leino and get rid of Ehrhoff ?

Slats is lucky he has an owner with deep pockets. His mistakes are terrible.

How about Clarkson in Toronto,wouldn't that be a joke,Nonis buys out Clarkson a year after he gave him that stupid contract,everyone deserves a mulligan he says!

Clarkson gets a pass for this season.

But if the same trend continues with him he might make the list of future buyout candidates.

Your right Chow,but it would have been funny all the same,Nonis however would never do it because of the cost,because Clarkson could be better next year and because it would look pretty bad to his bosses and around the league.I think the Lerfs would try to trade him first.

How about Clarkson in Toronto,wouldn't that be a joke,Nonis buys out Clarkson a year after he gave him that stupid contract,everyone deserves a mulligan he says!

Clarkson gets a pass for this season.

But if the same trend continues with him he might make the list of future buyout candidates.

Your right Chow,but it would have been funny all the same,Nonis however would never do it because of the cost,because Clarkson could be better next year and because it would look pretty bad to his bosses and around the league.I think the Lerfs would try to trade him first.

But if the same trend continues with him he might make the list of future buyout candidates.

[/QUOTE]

Your right Chow,but it would have been funny all the same,Nonis however would never do it because of the cost,because Clarkson could be better next year and because it would look pretty bad to his bosses and around the league.I think the Lerfs would try to trade him first.

How about Clarkson in Toronto,wouldn't that be a joke,Nonis buys out Clarkson a year after he gave him that stupid contract,everyone deserves a mulligan he says!

[/QUOTE]

Clarkson gets a pass for this season.

But if the same trend continues with him he might make the list of future buyout candidates.

[/QUOTE]

Your right Chow,but it would have been funny all the same,Nonis however would never do it because of the cost,because Clarkson could be better next year and because it would look pretty bad to his bosses and around the league.I think the Lerfs would try to trade him first.

[/QUOTE]

It's the worst contract in the nhl. Untradeable

[/QUOTE]

I thought Scott Gomez was the worst (another Sather move) and yet he found a home for him in Montreal, so maybe not as bad as we think.

But if the same trend continues with him he might make the list of future buyout candidates.

Your right Chow,but it would have been funny all the same,Nonis however would never do it because of the cost,because Clarkson could be better next year and because it would look pretty bad to his bosses and around the league.I think the Lerfs would try to trade him first.

If I read correctly, Maple Leafs have used up all their buy outs, no?

Yeah,i guess Ol' Clarky is a Lerf for a few years, takes the heat off Phaneuf every once in awhile.

San Jose will probably hang onto Havlat because he will be in the final year of his contract, and will need a good year to secure his next big deal with some clueless General Manager, who hasn't figured out that Havlat, ala Semin, only gets motivated when playing for a new contract.

Does anybody know why the NHL limited the 2 buyouts to the first 2 years of the cba, rather than allow them to be used over the course of the entire deal?

It seems to punish the well run teams like Boston, that have been fiscally prudent, that could end up with a bad contract in a few years, and would not have the same chance to get out from under a bad deal.

How about Clarkson in Toronto,wouldn't that be a joke,Nonis buys out Clarkson a year after he gave him that stupid contract,everyone deserves a mulligan he says!

Clarkson gets a pass for this season.

But if the same trend continues with him he might make the list of future buyout candidates.

Your right Chow,but it would have been funny all the same,Nonis however would never do it because of the cost,because Clarkson could be better next year and because it would look pretty bad to his bosses and around the league.I think the Lerfs would try to trade him first.

It's the worst contract in the nhl. Untradeable

I thought Scott Gomez was the worst (another Sather move) and yet he found a home for him in Montreal, so maybe not as bad as we think.

Gomez was coming off a 58 point season when he got traded. I don't think anyone thought it was a good contract, but MTL didn't think they were getting a useless player. Clarkson's contract is structured so if it isn't a complaince buyout, it's practically impossible to buyout. Only way to trade it is to eat part of it, and more than the canucks ate with luongo.

I would agree with the assessment of Myers. He is a poorman's Cedafano. If you look at the age of Zdeno and his stats with the Isles, his numbers are similar Myers. Myers made a big impact his rookie year but then the Sabres imploded over the past few years leaving Tyler with the gigantic role of being the anchor on defense. He would be excellent trade material to a team that has a great defensive system.

Does anybody know why the NHL limited the 2 buyouts to the first 2 years of the cba, rather than allow them to be used over the course of the entire deal?

It's not supposed to be a mulligan. Basically, it exists because some teams signed deals that made sense at the time but don't now, either because players' share was reduced significantly and the deal is no longer "market value" or because the lower cap gives them less flexibility to manage mistakes and still compete. Boston didn't have any of those bad deals (maybe Peverley, if they'd chosen that route), so they didn't use the buyouts. It doesn't mean they should be allowed to sign stupid deals and then buy them out. Of course, the buy out option stays on the books, but the compliance buyout has no cap implications.

Does anybody know why the NHL limited the 2 buyouts to the first 2 years of the cba, rather than allow them to be used over the course of the entire deal?

It's not supposed to be a mulligan. Basically, it exists because some teams signed deals that made sense at the time but don't now, either because players' share was reduced significantly and the deal is no longer "market value" or because the lower cap gives them less flexibility to manage mistakes and still compete. Boston didn't have any of those bad deals (maybe Peverley, if they'd chosen that route), so they didn't use the buyouts. It doesn't mean they should be allowed to sign stupid deals and then buy them out. Of course, the buy out option stays on the books, but the compliance buyout has no cap implications.

I think it's something the players association was also thrilled about. allowed players like gomez and redden to play in the NHL again.

Well, yeah - there were a few guys in danger of seeing themselves buried in the AHL, and it's a pattern that could end up killing careers if the trends went the wrong way. Imagine a guy like Myers, who is paid heftily at a young age, going back to the AHL because Buffalo is better off Cap-wise not paying him that crazy salary, and no team wants to take a risk on him because the deal is too long. So he gets caught in the AHL for 3-4 years until the risk is low enough teams will take a chance or things are more amenable in Buffalo...and maybe whatever he had that made him RotY is now suffocated because he's completely checked out and disillusioned with pro hockey. Or he plays out the string and has to sign a series of one year 900K deals before anyone is over the fear of being burned by him.

It's hard to say with Redden, but you know, the guy didn't look done when he played in Boston. Didn't look like a $6M player, but he wasn't without game. Why did no one take a chance on him? Did he get offers, but in that league minimum range that made it just seem silly to him to continue at 36 or 37? I think there's a very good chance he could have been a top 4 D in the NHL for another few years if he hadn't been paid like a #1D when he went to NYR. It's possible he left a few dollars on the table over the long haul - and he most certainly left a chunk of per diem money out there!

Right - they are out of compliance buyouts. They could still buy Clarkson out, but with the Yashin-like cap penalties. The way his deal is structured, his buyout would result in a lot of dead money through 2019-2020:

"Under the collective bargaining agreement signed last season, teams are allowed two compliance buyouts within designated time periods last summer and this summer. That’s two buyouts total, not two per summer, and the buyouts can be used at a team’s discretion. That means some teams can (and did) use both last summer, some used one and some saved both for this summer.

When using a compliance buyout, a team “must pay two-thirds of the remaining contract across twice the remaining term of the deal. The bought-out players become free agents July 5 (2013, and July 1, 2014) and can sign with any team, other than the one that bought out the player.”

A refresher of last year’s compliance buyouts can be found here. But here’s a short list of who does and does not have flexibility.

ONE BUYOUT LEFT: Detroit, Edmonton, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Washington

NO BUYOUTS LEFT:Chicago, Montreal, Philadelphia, Toronto

Factoring that list in, I’ve ranked my top five compliance buyout candidates below. My key criteria: (a) No one would want any part of this player’s contract in a trade; (b) this player wasn’t signed last summer, as sheer pride would likely stop most GMs from admitting their mistakes after just one year; (c) this player is not suffering from a long-term injury.

He scored in his first game as a Sabre Oct. 7, 2011 and it was all downhill from there. In the 132 contests since, Leino has nine goals. He has zero in 54 games this season. Calling him a buyout candidate is a gross understatement.

Seeing what Jaromir Jagr has done at 42 and even what Jarome Iginla has done at 36, Richards sure seems like an old 33, doesn’t he? Too much mileage, too many years left, too many dollars for someone who can no longer function as a team’s No. 1 pivot.

Name a goalie, any goalie, and he has a better save percentage than Pavelec this season. I’m barely even joking. Of the 49 qualified leaders in save percentage, 43 rank ahead of Pavelec, a “starter.” Time for a change in Winnipeg’s net. Al Montoya deserves a longer look, maybe as part of a tandem with someone like Brian Elliott or James Reimer.

Marty, not Martin anymore, according to his official profile page. Havlat makes the money of a key offensive contributor and he simply isn’t one anymore. He only has a year left on his deal, but the contending Sharks could do plenty with that $5 million as they seek another piece of the Stanley Cup puzzle. Assuming they don’t win it this year, of course.

Am I contradicting my own criteria? It’s controversial pick, as some teams may be willing to explore a trade for him, but the cap hit and term, not to mention Myers’ no-trade clause that kicks in for 2016-17, would make it tough for Buffalo to find a dance partner. The Sabres don’t need Myers for their future, as they have Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov and Jake McCabe to build around, not to mention Christian Ehrhoff signed at a reasonable price until the end of time. Myers is the anti-Dennis Green player, in that he just isn’t who we thought he was after that Calder Trophy campaign in 2009-10.

Agree or disagree with these picks? Have some candidates of your own"

Since I really just want the palyoffs to start yesterday, thought I'd put up another distraction subject that won't take my take my mind off the post-season.

Havlat and Leino are gimmes in my view. Or does Murray keep Leino and get rid of Ehrhoff ?

Slats is lucky he has an owner with deep pockets. His mistakes are terrible.

The main thing about richards is the recapture penalty. It may cause a few surprise buyouts of front loaded contracts.